Field Note Friday, Edition 007: How To Move On When You Just Don't Want To

Try as we might, we cannot resist the seasons changing.

Every August around this time I feel the same grief rolling in like a fog: summer is ending, and routine is returning.

Long days spent outside are being shelved where school supplies are being purchased. Activities begin becoming more organized. Suddenly laundry becomes part of your routine again, and not just an 'oh shit yeah I have to take care of that' thing (just me??). The air is turning crisp, the boots are coming out, the 'ber months are beginning and at this point it may as well be New Years Eve.

It happens too quickly, every year.

Resisting this change would be incredibly disruptive. Not only is it ill-advised to wear open-toed shoes in the cold, if you have people relying on you, you need to help them shift through the changing seasons too. They depend on us to guide them through it, even though we prefer later bedtimes and ice cream for dinner, too.

It brings to mind that famous scene from The Middle - where the parents don't realize it's the first week of school and are relaxing in their above-ground pool with the kids when their neighbor comes over and asks what they're doing. "Enjoying the last week of summer," the mother, Frankie Heck, explains. This is immediately followed by the revelation that it is in fact not the last week of summer, and the children understandably go from relaxed to utterly distraught in the blink of an eye.

So, yeah. We can't just pretend our way into a better reality without actual, real world consequences.

It's a fact of life: moving on is hard to do. It's difficult to let go of things we enjoy, things we didn't feel like we got enough of, and things that feel nearly impossible to preserve.

My advice is going to sound corny. If you're cool with that, keep reading. If not, this might not even be the corner of the internet for you... so proceed with caution.

Ready?

Preserve it. Preserve as much as you can.

Take pictures so you can look back on the days long gone. And take it one step further: print them. Your kids will not be able to look through your camera roll when they're older, so for the love of everything, please print them. 
*(I use Chatbooks to make monthly albums; this is my referral link. If you use it, we both get $15 off our next book!)

Embrace tradition. Find a local minor or college level team and become a superfan. Attend their games year after year. Learn the lore of the places you visit. Plan to take time off in the summer and go nowhere, enjoying summer at home, in its purest form. Visit the same places year after year, anticipate the same smells and flavors, and make those memories part of you at a bone-deep level.

Keep a journal. It doesn't have to be anything formal. Write down the weather, what your kids obsessions are these days, a new flower you spotted or new flavor of ice cream you tried and what you thought of it, something funny you overheard, whatever feels worth it. Hand it to a physical journal so your brain doesn't have the responsibility of cataloging it long term, which makes the memories accessible later.
*(May we recommend our embroidered journal?)

And then, when the time comes to move on, there's a little something extra in your back pocket to remind you of the good times.

The coolest thing about preserving the memories, though?

Once you start collecting them, you realize how many more you'll have the opportunity to make.

And that makes moving on and looking forward incredibly easy.

Your favorite sentimentholic,
S